A Dreary Night
by pandorabox82
Summary: Beth has broken up with Aaron, and he does not take the news well. Ending up on Jessica's doorstep, will they explore feelings that have been kept buried for years?


Jessica blindly reached out for her phone, wondering who was calling her so early in the morning. "Hello?" she groaned out, her free hand rubbing her face.

"Jess, hey, I know that it's really early, but I need you to come pick Hotch up."

She could hear the resignation in Penelope's voice, and sighed as she sat up. "What's going on?" she asked, trying to wake up a little more fully.

"Beth was here, waiting for him to get back from this case. It was the perfect storm, honestly, after she broke up with him, and we are all more than a little blitzed. No one wanted him to go home alone, and then he and Rossi started a game of one-upmanship, which Der had to jump in on, and none of us are fit to drive."

"And that concerns me, how?" she asked shortly, feeling more annoyed by the moment.

"We all have someone to go home to, and now, Hotch is alone. Would you mind picking him up?"

Jessica shook her head a little. She knew that it was out of character for Aaron to get shit faced drunk, unless something was really wrong, and yet she didn't want to just condone the behavior by picking him up. Jack was sleeping peacefully, after all, and she didn't want to wake him to go pick him up as well. "Put him in a cab and send him my way. I can't leave Jack here alone, just in case something were to happen."

"I didn't even think of that," the woman breathed out. "That sounds like the perfect solution. You still live at 5066 Breezefield Drive, right?"

"Yes."

"Perfect! He should be there in about an hour."

Before Jessica could say another word, Penelope had hung up, and she let her shoulders slump heavily as she set the phone aside. Burying her head in her hands, she yawned deeply before pushing herself off the bed and tiredly making her way downstairs, curling up on the sofa to wait for the knock at the door.

Her eyes itched fiercely, as they always did when she was exhausted and couldn't sleep, and she kept rubbing them. Jessica knew that if she were to look in the mirror, they would be puffy and red, like she had been crying, and she sighed as she pulled her hands away and sat on them. As she waited, a loud clap of thunder startled her, and she sighed once more. This was just the cherry atop a crap sundae, and she pulled a knitted afghan down to cover her legs as she waited for Aaron.

Jessica might have fallen asleep once more, because the next thing she knew, someone was incessantly ringing her doorbell. Stumbling up off the couch, she made her way to the front door and snapped on the porch light. Aaron's dark head was haloed by the glow of the bulb, and she sighed a little as she unlocked the door.

He didn't even think twice, it seemed, since he just turned the handle and let himself in before she could do so. "It took you long enough," he slurred out, and she rolled her eyes as she closed the door forcefully, locking it once more.

"I was sleeping in my cozy bed until I got a call from Penelope. What were you thinking? You have a son! You do not need to be getting drunk just because some flighty woman breaks up with you!"

The thin thread of her control had snapped at his words, and she could see his thoughts reflected on his face. It was odd to see him open enough to read him like a book, and she shook her head, reaching out to pull the wet suit coat from his shoulders and hanging it on the tree. "Sorry," he mumbled as he kicked his feet out of his shoes, and then he was hugging her tightly, quickly soaking her pajamas.

"Aaron, come on, let's just get you to bed," she muttered, taking him by the hand and leading him upstairs to the bedrooms.

"My head hurts."

"I can imagine. Penelope said that you guys tried to drink each other under the table. You're lucky that she looks out for you all."

"She always looks out for us, she loves us. If I loved her back, I would so challenge Derek for her. But she's not the one that I find myself in love with. I thought it was Beth, but she told me that I wasn't in love with her, that she was breaking up with me because she wasn't in my heart."

Jessica wondered where he was going with that when he leaned over and passionately kissed her. She wasn't expecting that response, so it took a moment to register what was happening, and she pushed him away gently. "Aaron, you're drunk. Don't do something that you regret in the morning," she said lowly, not looking at him. "Go, sleep it off in the guest room. I trust that you can get there on your own."

She turned to head into her room, only to start a bit as Aaron followed at her heels. "I don't want to sleep alone," he said lowly, his hands coming to rest on her hips, pulling her back against him. He was clammy and wet, and yet she could feel a certain heat radiate off him.

"Well, I'm not sure that I want you to sleep here," she replied tartly, trying to keep her mind off the way that she was feeling. Though she hadn't wanted to admit it, she had always harbored feelings for Aaron, and he was making it very difficult for her to say no.

"Your body is telling me a different story," he said lowly as he let his head come to rest on her shoulder. "But if you want to tell me no, I'll sleep in the guest room."

Jessica felt her heart melt at the fact that even though he was still so very drunk, he was making certain that she was consenting. "Oh, Aaron, I would love to say yes, I really would. I just don't want to do something that we would both regret in the morning." Turning in his arms, she reached up to caress his face, letting a sad smile grace her lips.

"We won't know if we don't let it happen." She laughed at that line, shaking her head a little as she made her way over to the bed. "Jessica?"

"Come to bed, Aaron. We'll cuddle tonight, and see where things go from there. But make sure you take off your wet clothes. I do not want my mattress to mildew."

She crawled beneath the covers, making certain to face the window so as not to watch him strip. A tiny part of her knew that if she watched, she would be all too willing to let him make love to her, and after the night that he had just had, she wasn't certain that that would be a healthy outcome.

The bed dipped beneath his weight, and she sighed a little as she scooted over to make room for him. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, stopping her movements, and she smiled a little as she let him cuddle up against her. There was something so comforting about the gesture, and she longed to kiss him once more. Instead, she went with the best option available to her. "Good night, Aaron."

"Good night, Jess."

Sleep, though, was a long time coming, and she found herself focusing on the way his body felt against her back, the heat he gave off, the way he smelled. All these things were combining in her mind to create a very strong tug of desire, and she had to think of the least sexy things in her brain to keep from giving in to the desire of her heart.

Slowly, she began to count sheep, getting well into five hundred before her busy mind finally let her drift off once more. Even still, Jessica's dreams were filled with longing and sex and it didn't really surprise her when Aaron woke her the next morning with a tender kiss. Her eyes snapped open to look into his dark brown ones, and she saw that he was perfectly sober and perfectly kissing her.

Pulling back a little, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "It's a good thing that it's Saturday," she whispered.

"Why's that?"

"You don't need to go into the office. I can tell by the light outside that it must be close to nine. How's your head this morning?"

"I've actually had worse hangovers. I think because Penelope kept feeding me pretzels and water throughout the night that it's a lot better than it could have been." He kissed her once more, and this time, she couldn't stop her body from arching against him, wanting to come in closer contact with him.

And then, her brain went to the reason that he was in her bed. "Jack! He won't know about this, he could walk in at any moment! What would he think? After all, you're still with Beth, to him."

"I sent him downstairs for breakfast, telling him that I had passed out from sheer tiredness at the gloomy night before I could pick him up, and that we still needed our sleep. We'll be fine."

She let out the breath she had been holding and nodded. "All right, that's one detail taken care of, but Aaron, do you really want to do this?"

Aaron smiled gently at her as he nodded. "Yes. I didn't want to admit it, but there was some truth to Beth's words. A small part of my heart has always rested with you, since you were there for us after Foyet. You welcomed us into your home and your heart, and I guess that I fell in love with that without even realizing."

He reached out to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand, the tender smile never leaving his lips. Hesitantly, she nodded before closing the distance between them and laying claim to his lips in a lush kiss. "This might be madness, but I'd love to see where it leads. I often think about you, wonder how you're doing, and a small part of me feels guilty."

"Why?"

"Because I'm wanting what Haley had. It feels a little like I'm moving in on her territory. And then my brain starts to go down rabbit holes of what my parents will think, what your mom will think, what our friends will say. I guess that I'm just a worrier by nature, and, and…"

Aaron cut off her words with a fierce kiss, and she gave herself over to the embrace, welcoming the feel of his hands roaming up and down her back as the kiss lingered. Slowly, he began to ruck up her nightgown and she shuddered a little at the way his skin felt against hers.

Somehow, they managed to pull the garment off her, and she gasped a little as his hands cupped her breasts, thumbing her nipples absently while he kissed and nipped at her jaw. She found herself more than ready to welcome him into her body, and so, when he nudged her legs apart, she nodded and parted them wide enough so that he could sink into her with one sure stroke.

Her chin came to rest against his shoulder as he set a slow, easy, pace for them. It felt so right, so good, to be filled by him, and she sighed and cooed at first, her sounds turning more guttural as the passion overwhelmed her senses. Finally, though, she was slipping over the edge of the abyss, and she bit down on his shoulder as she came.

Panting, she fell back on the mattress and stared up into his face, knowing that the care and affection shining there was reflected in her face. "I guess that makes a pretty strong case for us being compatible," she murmured, and he laughed a little.

"I guess so. I hope that my pants are at least dry."

"Well, you can always borrow my robe to wear downstairs until they dry." She grinned up at him before sliding out and padding over to her wardrobe. "Here." She threw her old terrycloth robe at him. "I'm going to go take a shower. I'd say you're welcome to join me, but I have the feeling that things might end up a little spicy. At least the dreary night turned out to be a bright morning." He nodded and she made her way over to the doorway, taking one last look at him before opening the door and scampering off across the hall and into the bathroom. This was something she had never planned on, but she was still welcome to the possibility of what was to come.


End file.
